Lavy Long

Long Lavy (b. 1980, Pursat Province, Cambodia) specializes in meticulous watercolor landscapes. Sometimes melancholy yet always with a hint of optimism, his work is derived from his real life, longing for his countryside home, where his wife and two young children reside. He is often confined in the urban sprawl of Phnom Penh, far away from his loved ones seeking work as a tuk tuk driver, and previously as a professional Khmer kickboxer. Recurring themes in this body of work include the metamorphosis of his environment and the transient nature of his solitary life expressed in the ephemeral qualities of the natural world.
Long Lavy is originally from Pursat province, but spent most of his childhood in Kandal province, just outside of Phnom Penh city. He began studying watercolor in his teens and gradually honed his skills to create idyllic countryside landscapes and depict chaotic city spaces. He is now a permanent resident artist with Open Studio Cambodia in Siem Reap, Cambodia.